Bakersfield Car Accident Lawyer
After Bakersfield car accidents, there are a couple of situations our attorneys really hate to see.
- Injured victims struggling with medical debt while they are waiting on unhelpful insurance companies to take action.
- Injured victims struggling to support themselves and their families because their injuries won’t allow them to go back to work.
These and other hardships are 100% the responsibility of reckless drivers and their car insurance providers. Maison Law Accident & Injury Lawyers of Bakersfield offers a free, no-obligation consultation for all accident victims in Kern County. It’s a chance to help determine who is to blame and to find out how to hold insurance companies fully accountable.
Maison Law Accident & Injury Lawyers of Bakersfield offers a free, no-obligation consultation for all accident victims in Kern County.
It’s a chance to help determine who is to blame and to find out how to hold insurance companies fully accountable.
How Do I Decide If I Need a Lawyer After a Bakersfield Car Accident?
Generally, if there are only very minor injuries to report or just car damage, you may be able to handle your case yourself and come out okay. However, when injuries are more serious, like broken bones or brain trauma, victims may need the protection and financial advantage a Bakersfield car accident lawyer provides.
When serious injuries bring higher medical bills, insurance adjusters are instructed to limit what you receive. They may try to blame you for a collision or attempt to discount your injuries, saying they aren’t that significant. Your attorney fights back on your behalf, investigating your accident and securing evidence that keeps the facts from changing. The experience of a great attorney often means you’ll be getting much more for your injury than if you decide to handle your claim yourself.
What Not To Do After An Accident
If it’s safe on the scene of your accident and you feel up to it, it’s a big help to your case if you pick up a few pieces of evidence. Much of this evidence disappears as soon as the vehicles are towed away and the location is cleaned up.
Check on everyone involved first, and call 911. Then, if your injuries allow, take action to make sure you can’t be blamed for an accident you didn’t cause.
But there are also a few mistakes you don’t want to make right after your accident:
- Don’t be talked out of calling for an ambulance. If you are hurt in any way, request medical help.
- Don’t hold back any information when going over what happened with the Bakersfield Police or the California Highway Patrol (CHP).
- Don’t put your cellphone away. Take photos of the scene and the damage to vehicles. Take pictures of any visible injuries. Use your phone to get contact information from witnesses and to take any notes about what you remember from the incident.
- Don’t forget to check your surroundings. Note any surveillance cams mounted on local stores or on the doorbells of local homes. Note the addresses for your lawyer.
- Don’t admit to fault. When talking to other drivers, avoid making statements about what caused the accident. Insurance adjusters can use your statements later to weaken your injury claim.
- Don’t guess about how badly you are hurt. Allow doctors and paramedics to decide how bad off you are. You can’t be expected to know. Telling another driver that “I’m fine” might allow the car insurance company to use the statement to hurt your case.
- Don’t just go to the emergency room. Visit your doctor. Visit your own doctor in the days that follow to diagnose any new injuries that appear and to document the injuries you’ve already had treated.
- Don’t skip contacting a car accident lawyer if you are injured. In a free case consultation, you can determine if you can do better with a lawyer handling your claim. If you don’t have a lawyer, insurance adjusters are prone to offering you a quick settlement before you realize the extent of your injuries and how long you’ll need care. You can sign off on an agreement, meaning you can’t seek more support when your injuries flare up months later. Your attorney makes sure you don’t accept “low-ball” offers and ensures you maximize the support you win.
How Many Car Accidents Are There in Bakersfield?
According to California’s Transportation Injury Mapping System (TIMS), Bakersfield has averaged 1,426 accidents involving injury each year over a five-year period (2020-2024). Tragically, those collisions also came along with an average of 57 fatalities a year.
As you’d expect, the most accidents occur along the fastest-moving highways, such as Route 99, and at the busiest intersections, such as Brundage Lane and Union Avenue.
After a 5-year high in major collisions seen in 2023, 2024 figures dropped slightly. In 2024, there were 1,434 serious accidents recorded in the city. Those crashes led to 43 traffic deaths. It remains to be seen which direction 2025 statistics will trend when 2025 traffic data can be tabulated.
Things like failing brakes, bald tires, or rain-slicked roads don’t cause the most common collisions. The most common causes are the errors in judgment that drivers make.
- Distracted driving
- Cellphone use while behind the wheel
- Speeding
- Driving aggressively
- Running red lights and stop signs
- Driving while impaired by drugs or alcohol
- Failing to look out for pedestrians and cyclists along the street
It may be obvious to you and a police officer that the other driver caused the crash, but the driver’s car insurance provider may not see it that way. Your lawyer helps you secure real evidence to make sure the blame stays with the right person.
What Can I Win in a Car Accident Settlement?
Your injuries and the work time you must miss out on will largely determine how much you should secure in a car accident settlement check. The amount will hinge on how long your injuries take to heal (longer in the hospital). It will also depend on how many paychecks you miss.
Economic damages should never be the only factor, though. The pain you are left with after an accident must also receive compensation. The emotional trauma you are left to cope with might also boost your accident support.
Your attorney would help you document every hardship you’d had since a terrible crash. This list of damages would be included when your attorney filed your claim for you.
It would factor in these details and more:
- The costs of medical care (Current and Future)
- The cost of long-term care for a physical disability
- Money for car repairs or replacement
- Travel costs when visiting doctors and specialists
- Support for the income and benefits victims lose while unable to work
- Support for pain and suffering, including emotional trauma
- Support for the changes to a normal routine that an injury causes
- Support for the loss of enjoyment of life due to injury
Frequently Asked Questions
Can my family count on support if a loved one is killed in a Kern County accident?
Yes. California encourages families who have lost a precious loved one in a traffic accident caused by a negligent driver. Close relatives, like a spouse or child, could ask for help with paying for a funeral and covering leftover medical bills. Victims could seek support for the guidance and future companionship that’s been lost. They should also receive help in replacing the monthly income that the victim may have supported the family with.
How long should I wait to speak to a lawyer after a traffic accident?
You should go over your case with a lawyer as soon as you can. Waiting can mean valuable evidence slips through the cracks and disappears. Delay can lead to witnesses becoming harder to locate and more likely to forget what they saw. California allows victims up to two years to file a personal injury claim, but waiting months or years can hurt a case.
What if I can’t afford to pay a lawyer to represent my case?
Obviously, a car accident victim’s financial situation rarely improves in the weeks after a major traffic collision. It’s why you don’t need any money to hire a Bakersfield car accident attorney. If you need us, we will sign a contingency agreement with you. It means we cover all upfront case costs. We also don’t earn anything unless we win your case for you. Then our fee comes out of the settlement money that a car insurance company must fork over.
Contact a Car Accident Attorney Who Backs Your Claim with Evidence and Fights to Earn You More
Don’t accept that your medical bills are your responsibility after a terrifying car crash. You shouldn’t have to choose between focusing on recovery and worrying about your hospital costs and the paychecks you are losing.
If you have a serious injury, and a careless driver caused your accident, contact Maison Law Accident & Injury Lawyers of Bakersfield to schedule a free consultation. It’s a confidential, no-obligation review of your case with a real car accident lawyer.
We don’t stop fighting until you are healthy again, you have a car in great condition again, and your financial worries are a thing of the past.